The Early Tudors and Constructing English Empire

The Tudor dynasty of Early Modern England has long-fascinated historians. They collectively represent the advent of change for England with the Reformation, economic changes, and early stages of empire. The last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, is generally pegged for the dawn of English Empire as well as establishing the Protestant Ascendancy for England during the Reformation. The former is a partial truth. The earlier Tudors, namely Henry VII and Henry VIII, prove responsible for the notions of imperium that Elizabeth later built upon. Henry VII invoked imperium in multiple ways, including drawing heavily on antiquity, emulating the Spanish in overseas exploration, and reified the consolidated authority of a dynastic kingship through propaganda. Henry VIII, infamous for his many wives, propagated the dually domestic and foreign policy model of his father and predecessor. Contrary to the popularized notion that Henry VIII was a tyrannical egotist who unflinchingly brought the Reformation to England, the second Tudor drew on recent continuity to enhance the English kingship. Remaining true to both Tudor propaganda and his faith, Henry VIII used the idea of imperium to ensure the legitimacy and stability of the fresh and vulnerable Tudor dynasty which incidentally resulted in breaking from the Roman Catholic Church. Keywords: Tudors, Henry VIII, empire, kingship, centralization, Reformation, Cabot, Henry Tudo